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What Anita Sarkeesian Just Told the United Nations

What Anita Sarkeesian Just Told the United Nations

On September 24, 2015, the Working Group on Broadband and Gender met to discuss online violence towards women and girls at the UN Women HQ in New York City, NY. Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian, two advocates for equality in gaming, were two of the guest speakers at the event, which prompted some concern from a subset of gamers. A quick Google search on the topic will yield responses from Youtubers and commenters who seem worried that their testimony in front of the UN will lead to censorship on the internet; that Governments will jump at the chance to lay siege to our freedom of expression online.
It’s important to note that what the committee is actually trying to accomplish, and this is laid out rather clearly in the full broadcast , is to make changes so that the internet is a safer, more inclusive place for all. They would like to reach this point by 2030.

By safer, and more inclusive, what they mean is that online interactions should at least come close to being as civil as the interactions people have in person, governed by the same laws and treated with the same level of respect. It is abundantly apparent that people feel less restrained online and are more likely to stalk, threaten, and demean in an online, pseudo-anonymous environment. These actions, despite what some may think, are not rights protected by free speech; they’re just behaviors that people have managed to get away with for so long that they’ve started to feel entitled to them. In fact, such behaviors can actually inhibit free speech when people are afraid to speak out or participate in discourse for fear of an onslaught of angry, online aggressors.

What makes this behavior particularly unfair is its disproportionate use towards women online. Women are 27 times more likely to be victimized online than men, and around 73% of women report that they’ve faced some sort of online violence, be it threats or cyberstalking. One can try to minimize these numbers by claiming that some of these victims are exaggerating, but that is not only an inconsiderate thing to do but also not a fair argument; one can’t be so critical of such a large number simply because they do not share the same experience. Even if the number were considerably smaller, it would still be larger than we should be willing to accept. Our goal should be to make it so everyone feels included and safe online.

What Anita Sarkeesian Just Told the United Nations

What isn’t practical for us as a society is to have half of our population feeling as though they are taking a large risk engaging in online discussion. The notion that they should just keep their heads down and be quiet is an ultimately harmful one. The reason for the committee, beyond ensuring basic rights and freedoms for everyone, is to see to it that women aren’t barred from the advantages of our increasingly online-oriented society. The internet is, after all, a well of information and a great place to exchange beliefs and gain insight on other cultures.

For Anita and Zoe’s part, they were present to tell their stories which exemplify how poorly people will treat women online. These are two people who have been attacked on a regular basis. It’s hard to downplay their experience, even if you for some reason wanted to, because who among us would like to be in their shoes? You can disagree with some of their beliefs, and you can do so in a civil manner, but many tend to cross the line. This derails discussion, and is harmful for gamers in general. If freedom of speech is what we want to defend, then we need to see to it that we are protecting it for everyone equally. Anita and Zoe have done a lot to raise awareness for the inequality faced by women online, and their presence at the UN was easily justified.

What is important, here, is not to obfuscate this simple point with other arguments about their brands or how you may or may not agree with their commentary on games. None of those points justify the way they’ve been treated. The facts suggest that a growing number of women do not feel safe online, and we should respect those feelings as they’re often derived from personal experience. A more inclusive internet can only help our society, so let’s stop being so hostile all the time and maybe, perhaps, try to learn from one another.

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